Dr. Anthony Fauci is coming forward with some Mother’s Day predictions about the pandemic.
President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor spoke with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos Sunday about the pandemic’s current state and what he expects if a large number of the population is vaccinated by this time next year, sharing that “we’re going to see a dramatic difference than what we’re seeing right now.”
“I believe that we will be about as close to back to normal as we can, and there’s some conditions to that, George,” Fauci said. “We’ve got to make sure that we get the overwhelming proportion of the population vaccinated. When that happens, the virus doesn’t really have any place to go.”
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director added that public health regulations and mask mandates may be relaxed if a larger number of the population gets their COVID shots, although daily case count averages will still play a role in those decisions.
“The CDC will be almost in real time … updating their recommendations and their guidelines,” he shared. “But yes, we do need to start being more liberal as we get more people vaccinated. As you get more people vaccinated, the number of cases per day will absolutely go down.”
On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the expert also said that surges in cases are unlikely to happen again in the coming months if a significant amout of people get vaccinated. He added that masks may also become more common throughout flu seasons to come.
“It is conceivable that, as we go on a year or two or more from now, that during certain seasonal periods when you have respiratory borne viruses like the flu, people might actually elect to wear masks to diminish the likelihood that you’ll spread these respiratory borne diseases,” he said.
Just a couple weeks back, Fauci addressed comments from podcast host Joe Rogan, who told listeners that that young “healthy” people shouldn’t get the COVID vaccine. Fauci shared that the host was “incorrect,” adding that “you can get infected, and will get infected, if you put yourself at risk.”
